Editorial - New emergency room in Porters Neck a needed addition

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Published: Wednesday, July 17, 2013 at 10:36 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, July 17, 2013 at 10:36 p.m.

It's very difficult to see a down side in New Hanover Regional Medical Center's proposal to open a 24-hour emergency department at Porters Neck, near the Pender County line. The new facility not only would be more convenient for residents of northern New Hanover County and the Hampstead area, but it could save lives.

The Cape Fear region has grown a lot since 1967, when a voter-approved bond issue built what was then New Hanover Memorial Hospital.

The hospital itself has grown, too, from a single facility to a regional medical center that includes several other facilities that specialize in orthopedics, women's and children's health, rehabilitation, cancer and a psychiatric crisis center.

As its name implies, the hospital is a regional medical center, seeing patients from a seven-county area – and occasionally beyond. In the last fiscal year, New Hanover Regional's emergency room saw 83,430 patients, and Cape Fear Hospital's saw 37,335 – 120,765 in all. Those numbers are only expected to grow.

Many of the hospital's patients live within a few minutes' drive of the proposed freestanding emergency department. Anyone who has had to drive to the emergency room in the middle of the night – with a sick child, perhaps, or a nasty gash – would be thankful for a closer alternative that offers the same comprehensive level of care.

Emergency-room doctors would be from the same practice that staffs the emergency departments at NHRMC and Cape Fear, and the nurses and other staff members would be hospital employees. The major difference is that most traumas, such as gunshot wounds or traffic accidents, would be handled at the flagship hospital. Likewise, anyone coming in with a life-threatening condition would be transferred to NHRMC.

However, the facility will have all the equipment and medical expertise necessary to stabilize critical-care and trauma patients before they are transported.

North Carolina requires a certificate of need for new medical facilities, so the state must review the proposal. There is no question of the need.

Residents throughout the Cape Fear region need better access to emergency medical care, and this proposal would provide it.

<p>It's very difficult to see a down side in <a href="http://www.starnewsonline.com/section/topic9969"><b>New Hanover Regional Medical Center</b></a>'s proposal to open a 24-hour emergency department at Porters Neck, near the Pender County line. The new facility not only would be more convenient for residents of northern New Hanover County and the Hampstead area, but it could save lives.</p><p>The Cape Fear region has grown a lot since 1967, when a voter-approved bond issue built what was then New Hanover Memorial Hospital.</p><p>The hospital itself has grown, too, from a single facility to a regional medical center that includes several other facilities that specialize in orthopedics, women's and children's health, rehabilitation, cancer and a psychiatric crisis center.</p><p>As its name implies, the hospital is a regional medical center, seeing patients from a seven-county area – and occasionally beyond. In the last fiscal year, New Hanover Regional's emergency room saw 83,430 patients, and Cape Fear Hospital's saw 37,335 – 120,765 in all. Those numbers are only expected to grow.</p><p>Many of the hospital's patients live within a few minutes' drive of the proposed freestanding emergency department. Anyone who has had to drive to the emergency room in the middle of the night – with a sick child, perhaps, or a nasty gash – would be thankful for a closer alternative that offers the same comprehensive level of care.</p><p>Emergency-room doctors would be from the same practice that staffs the emergency departments at NHRMC and Cape Fear, and the nurses and other staff members would be hospital employees. The major difference is that most traumas, such as gunshot wounds or traffic accidents, would be handled at the flagship hospital. Likewise, anyone coming in with a life-threatening condition would be transferred to NHRMC.</p><p>However, the facility will have all the equipment and medical expertise necessary to stabilize critical-care and trauma patients before they are transported.</p><p>North Carolina requires a certificate of need for new medical facilities, so the state must review the proposal. There is no question of the need.</p><p>Residents throughout the Cape Fear region need better access to emergency medical care, and this proposal would provide it.</p>